Nuggets president Josh Kroenke, left, and then GM Masai Ujiri, right, honor George Karl after his 1,000th career coaching win in Toronto a few nights prior. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

On Dec. 10, 2010, George Karl made history. With the Nuggets’ 123-116 victory over the Raptors in Toronto, Karl became only the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 career victories. A few nights later, team president Josh Kroenke and the GM Masai Ujiri honored Karl at Pepsi Center.

Karl, who had missed all of the previous season because of cancer, led the Nuggets back to the playoffs in 2010-11 after they finished with a 50-32 regular-season record. Two years later, they went 57-25 and he was named Coach of the Year.

Karl has been out of game since the Nuggets let him go in 2013 but has said multiple times that he wants to return to an NBA bench. Until he does, Nuggets fans will always have that moment in December 2010.

Nicki Jhabvala is the lead Broncos and NFL beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving at The Post in 2014, she spent nearly two years as a senior staff editor at The New York Times and five years at Sports Illustrated.

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